Peter ‘Chap' Cleere: If you weighed in during the skorts debate, get yourself to a camogie game

Irish Independent

3 days ago

Players need fans to turn up — and to call out the lack of funding for key facilities
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This afternoon, Cork and ­Galway line out at Croke Park for the camogie final. It's the highest profile the sport will have had since May and the skort debacle. Remember that?
As a camogie coach with four daughters who play the sport, the solution to me was immediately clear: allow players to choose between shorts and ­skorts. Choice is key. It prioritises players' comfort and performance.
Once the ard chomhairle of the Camogie Association belatedly came to this conclusion, the media buzz died down, as did the public discourse.
Interest in camogie dropped off. This leaves the players and volunteers to fight the same battles they were fighting back in April and for years before the skort issue. These battles are tough, and they are numerous.
Firstly, camogie is underfunded and under-resourced. Insufficient investment in facilities, training programmes and development initiatives is hindering the game's growth at all levels.
The discrepancy in the amount invested in hurling and in camogie is stark. This has been called out over many years. But, unlike the skorts, no one rings Liveline about it.
I have never seen a headline in a ­national newspaper expressing outrage at training conditions. Where is the outcry about the lack of access to high-quality pitches, lighting and other essential infrastructure? What about clubs and counties that prevent our camogie stars accessing the top-class facilities reserved for hurlers?
Investment is critical for developing talent and encouraging participation, and a lack of it is affecting player ­morale more than skorts did.
In comparison to other sports, ­especially men's hurling and football, camogie is barely visible in the media. If senior inter-county camogie got the amount of press attention throughout the championship that it got during the skort debacle, imagine what it could do for the game.
More consistent coverage could ­increase public interest and drive sponsorship for teams. Regular live broadcasting would expand the fanbase, leading to higher viewing numbers, which in turn leads to higher advertising revenue for the broadcaster. It is a win–win.
But it is also a chicken and egg situation in that the current sporadic broadcasting of matches makes it difficult to expand the fanbase, which then makes it difficult to argue for increased coverage.
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I note that Coimisiún na Meán's Gender Equality Diversity and Inclusion Strategy commits to the promotion of women's sports. Since the publication of the strategy, there has been an obvious increase in the number of women's rugby and soccer matches broadcast live on Irish TV. There has not yet been a major ­increase in coverage of camogie. I hope this changes.
The final and greatest battle we are facing is our apathy, reflected in low attendances. So many people were up in arms about the skort issue yet how many of them would turn up to support their county team or local club?
We expect girls and women to ­represent parish and county but don't feel the need to cheer them on. If ­people don't feel valued, they walk away, and we can't be surprised that they do. I see this in Kilkenny; I'm sure other coaches across the country see it too.
What camogie needs is for us to be passionate, not performative. If you weighed into a debate about ­skorts or posted a message of support on social media, why not call for our ­female athletes to get the same care and ­supports as their male counterparts. Better yet, buy a ticket to a match.
Peter 'Chap' Cleere is a Fianna Fáil TD for Carlow-Kilkenny and a member of the Oireachtas Committee on Sport
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